The Packet
The Packet is a short story which was first published in Popular Flying in May 1932 and was subsequently collected as the second chapter of the very first Biggles book The Camels are Coming, published in September 1932. The story was subsequently republished in The Modern Boy Issue 258, 14th January 1933 where it was given the title Peril Over the Line. The story also appeared in Biggles of the Special Air Police published in 1953. Synopsis Colonel Raymond asks Biggles to fetch a packet of secret plans obtained by an agent and hidden in a rabbit hole in a field twenty miles behind enemy lines. Plot (may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) work in progress Characters *Biggles *Major Mullen *Colonel Raymond - he's a colonel here *Captain MacLaren *Captain Mahoney *Batson *Quinan Aircraft *Sopwith Camel *F.E.2b *D.H.9 *D.H.4 *Fokker fighters - a line of 6 straight-winged aeroplanes. Later to be joined by two triplanes. The text seems to imply that the first 6 are of a different type. The Fokker D.V had a swept upper wing, so these may have been the D.IV. *Fokker Dr.I Places Visited *266 Squadron, Maranique *Ariet Mentioned Editorial Changes *See incongruities below. Other Research Notes References to the past Incongruities *There is something wrong with the bidding sequence of the bridge game at the beginning of the story. Biggles opens with 2 no trumps. Quinan then follows 2 diamonds--this is not allowed. Furthermore, Mahoney. as Biggles' partner passes. They then play the game as though Biggles/Mahoney had won the contract with Biggles playing no trumps as the declarer whereas the last person to bid was Quinan. *This incongruity is due to the fact that the text was edited before the story was published in book form. In the orginal text from Popular Flying, Biggles bids 2 no trumps. Quinan follows with 3 diamonds--which is allowable. Mahoney says no bid but after some prodding by Biggles bids 3 no trumps. Biggles ends up as declarer. For some reason, an editor changed 3 diamonds to 2 diamonds and removed Mahoney's 3 no trumps bid. The error introduced by this edit was not corrected in subsequent editions of the book. *See chronology below for anachronisms. Chronology (see also table at Timeline of the Biggles Stories) *As the second Biggles story to be written, one would naturally expect details to contradict those from later stories. *266 is flying Camels, Biggles has just been promoted to Captain, Batson is still alive and Algy has not yet arrived (August 1917). So June-July 1917. *Raymond is a colonel here but he is still a major in Biggles Flies East (November 1917). *Biggles is introduced to Raymond like he is meeting him for the first time, and Raymond takes the trouble to explain to him all the nuances of espionage flights. But Biggles has already met Raymond many times before and had done an espionage flight for him in The Laughing Spy (set around April 1917) when Biggles was still at 169 Squadron. We just have t0 remember that this was the second Biggles story ever to have been written so Johns was doing all this for the benefit of his readers more than anyone else. *Given the June-July 1917 timeline, the appearance of D.H.9s and Fokker Triplanes are anachronistic. Publication History *''Popular Flying'', May 1932 *''The Camels are Coming'', John Hamilton, 1932 *''The Modern Boy'', Issue 258, 14th Jan 1933 (as Peril Over the Line) *''Biggles in the Camels are Coming'', Boys' Friend Library, 1938 (as Chapter 2: Peril Over the Line) *''Biggles of the Special Air Police'', Thames, 1953 and reprints (as Chapter 9: The Packet) *''Biggles: The Camels are Coming'', Red Fox, 1993 and subsequent reprints and editions *''The Camels are Coming'', Norman Wright, 2010 References Category:Short stories Category:Biggles short stories Category:World War One era short stories